Ruins of St Mary's Church Co Kilkenny C&C

Cabaal

During the weekend I was lucky enough to get the keys of St Mary's Church in Callan, Co Kilkenny from the local historical society.

The whole ruins are completely closed off from the public due to damage caused over the years and ongoing work in there at the moment , the front gates and two sets of internal gates are normally locked and even when I was a kid I only managed to get into the roofed section once.

I'm looking to create a atmosphere to the set to show age and in the roofed area I'd like to create a kinda of spoofy affect, so I'm looking for suggestions in relation to processing. I used lightroom to process these.

I'm also planning to go back and any suggestions on best way to shoot is also welcome, the roofed area has very little external light so during my visit I used my Speedlite 430EX as the light source....could have done with having a tripod with me too

As always friends on my flicky can view larger versions, rest of the set here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabaal/sets/72157604328952068/

Borderfox

First and second last are excellent, pity you didnt have that tripod

Freddie59

First and last ones are fantastic.:)

mike65

First is exellent (takes me back to my trek round the ruins of the South-East) as is the second last. How were they colourised? Have you been to Tintern Abbey in Wexford? Of not do so

Mike.

Mellor

Love them,
Could you do a high contrast version of the first two, think it might work

Cabaal

another one similar to #1

conzy

#1 looks awesome

Go Kilkenny \o/

Eye2Eye

5, 1, 3 for me in that order. All because of the lighting.

YeahOK

1 + 5 I really like.

3 reminds me of most haunted live with that eejit whatshisname and for that reason puts me off a little?

You can't beat a good set of B&W ruins.

#1 The composition is spot on,the pillars create a nice line leading to the window.Unfortunately the blown out sky distracts the eye as it merges with the stone.Some blending might have helped here.If you're going back again bring the tripod and take 2 shots from the same position,one for the sky and one for the foreground.The only other complaint I have with it is the red cast you've applied to it.I feel a straight out B&W conversion would work a lot better.This could be a magnificent shot with a bit of work.

#2 I would probably crop out the front of the photo as it doesn't really add anything at the moment.Focusing more on the window and the roof would make it more interesting.The B&W processing is spot on though.

#3 This photo doesn't really work for me.I find it a bit too heavily processed and the subjects and composition aren't all that interesting(sorry if I'm sounding a bit harsh here)

#4 This is processed much like the 3rd one but the processing fits the photo a lot better here.I like the composition here with the door at the left of the shot and the dark expanse leading away to the right.There is a nice contrast between the light and the dark from left to right.Nice shot.

#5 This is my favourite of the lot,the composition and processing are perfect.Great shot.

#6 I'm liking this one aswell,it looks like the perfect haunted church with the branches invading to the left and the barren ground in front of it.I might have tried to get it at a wider angle though to include a bit more sky.Also the sky looks a tiny bit dull.A small bit of burning in photoshop should help that.

Great work Cabaal,can't wait to see the 2nd series

trishw78

3+4 are very Most Haunted which I'm not sure about you need a tripod. Love the texture in 5. I think 6 is a little too dark.

Wonder what the weather is like on saturday. Tintern Abbey or Knocktopher might be worth the drive

Dades

Not sure why, but #3 would be my pick of the bunch.
All class, though.

#4 is the "Most Haunted" one for me!